Music-chart.



No. 766,215. PATENTE!) AUG. 2, 1904.

H. L. BRANSON. MUSIC CHART.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 20, 1903.

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No. 766,215. PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904. H. L. BRANSON.

MUSIC CHART.

APPLIUATION FILED 00T. 20, 1903.

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TURE CHART l. Hdigesszs e910?. MW by Patented August 2, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HERSCHEL L. BRANSON, OF KANKAKEE, ILLINOIS.

MUSIC-CHART.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,215, dated August 2, 1904,

Application filed October 20, 1908. Serial No. 177,804. (No model.)

To @LZ whom zit may concern:

Be it known that I, HnRsoHnL L. BRANsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kankakee, in the county of Kankakee and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Music- Chart, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to music-charts; and the object thereof is to provide a music-chart adapted to be supported over a keyboard of a piano or organ and having' embodied therein means for illustrating objectively the positions upon the keyboard of the notes of any composition, means for illustrating the transposition of keys, and means for illustrating the composition of chords and the location of the chords, both major and minor, in the various keys. A

With the object above mentioned in view and others which will appear as the invention is more fully disclosed the same consists in the novel construction and combination of parts of a music-chart hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being' understoodthat various changes in the exact form, proportions, and mode of assemblage of the elements exhibited may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing its advantages.

In the drawings, Figure l is a view in elevation of one end of the base-board with a major-chord chart in position thereon and the scale-chart removed. Fig. la is a View of the portion of the apparatus not shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the end of the apparatus shown in Fig. l, the scalechart being shown in position over the notechart and a minor-chord chart being shown in lien of the major-chord chart. Fig'. 2 is a continuation of Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view adjacent to one end of the apparatus. Fig. 4 is a rear view of one end of the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by similar characters of reference, l designates generally the base-board of a chart, which preferably consists of a body portion 2 and extensions 3.

The body portion 2 has a slot 4 at each end through which passes a screw 5, which enters one of the extensions 3 and bears a washer 6, whichengages frictionally with the front surface of the body portion of the base-board. Each of the extensions 3 is slotted at its inner end, as shown at 7, and a guide screw or stud 8, which is rigidly secured in the body portion of the base-board, extends through each slot. The screws 5, with their washers 6 and the studs 8, cooperate with the slots through which they pass to form guiding and clamping means, whereby the extensions may be guided in their inward or outward movement and secured in adjusted position. The extensions 3 are provided merely to adapt the length of the chart to the length of the keyboard of the piano or organ upon which it is to be used, and when the chart is in use the extensions will be so adjusted in position that the ends thereof will abut against the frame of the instrument at the ends of the keyboard and prevent longitudinal movement of the chart over the keys, which would, of course, frustrate the purpose for which the chart is designed to be used.

At each end of the body portion 2 of the base-board there is rigidly attached a transverse member 9, whose lower end projects below the lower margin of the base-board to form a support therefor and whose upper end projects slightly above the upper margin of the base-board. Each of the transverse members 9 has attached to its upper end by means of a hinge l0 a shorter member ll, and the two members 9, with the members 1l hinged thereto, combine to form a sort of easel-support for the chart. As the members 9 and l1 are hinged together, the members 1l may be folded into close contact with the back of the chart, so as to occupy very little space when not in use, and when the chart is in use the members 9 and Il may be spread apart to different degrees, according to the angle of inclination to the vertical at which it is desired to support the chart.

Extending longitudinally of the chart and located between the clamping-screws 5 is a narrow surface 12, which I prefer to designate the signature-chart.

The signature-chart IOO may consist of a strip of cardboard or other suitable material bearing appropriate characters, or the characters may be placed directly upon the surface of the base-board of the chart, as preferred. The signature-chart is divided intermediate of its ends by a transverse mark 13, and the characters to the left` of the mark'constitute the key-signatures for the bass-clef, while those at the right of the mark form the key-signatures for the sopranoclef. The key-signatures represented on each side of the mark 13 are the same and comprise the whole range of key-signatu res in both Sharps and flats, and the key-signature without sharps and flats is indicated by the wordnaturalf The' order of the diderent keysignatures in each of the two divisions of the signature-chart is the same; but the spacing thereof is different, as will be seen, this difference being made on account of the difference in use to which the two portions of the signature-chart are applied.

Below the signature-chart the base-board has iiXed thereon two parallel lines of characters representing the notes of a series of successive chromatic scales, the series illustrated comprising only live octaves.' The characters used to designate the notes are those employed in the ordinary English notation and consist of the letters from A to G, inclusive, and Sharps or flats employed in connection with said letters. By arranging the characters in two parallel lines the majority of the notes may each be denoted by two different characters upon the base-board of the chart. In the two lines of characters it will be observed that each line is divided into several parts distinguished by the character of the shading of the background upon which the characters appear, and these differences in shading indicate upon the drawings diii'erent color-s, which are preferably used in the actual construction of the chart to distinguish different portions of the two lines of characters representing the notes. The upper line 15 will in practice be preferably made in five sections,of which the end sections and the middle section will have a yellow background and the two remaining sections a dark-blue background. The lower line 16 will also be formed in five sections of somewhat diiferent length from the sections in the upper line of characters and the end and middle sections of the lower line will be given a green background, while the two remaining sections will have a red background.

The object contemplated in dividingthe lines of note-representing characters into sections anddistinguishingthe sectionsbybackgrounds of different shades is toshow, by means of the different colored backgrounds, whether the notes represented by the characters thereon are found within the staves or outside the staves inthe space between them or in the space above or below. Thus the notes in the end and middle sectionsl of the line 15 will lie outside the staves, while those in the intermediate sections of line 15 will lie in the spaces of the staves. In line 16 the characters in the end and middle represent notes which will be found upon the lines added above and below the staves or upon the line intermediate between the staves, while the characters upon the intermediate sections represent notes which will be found upon the lines of the staves themselves.

The two lines of characters 15 and 16 above described constitute what may be designated the note-chart and cooperate with 'a' strip 17, of cardboard or other suitable material, -which is slidably mounted over the note-chart and provided with a plurality of perforations to indicate the characters designating the notes forming the scales in the different keys. rIhe perforated strip 17 may be designated the scale-chart, and it is secured in position above the note-chart by means of guide-hooks 18, which are fixed upon the base-board and overhang the margin of the strip. The scalechart is divided through its length by longitudinal and transverse lines into rows of divisions, of which the upper row 19 and the lower row 2O are oblong,l while the intermediate rows 21 and 22 are square. These squares are of such size that each one corresponds to a character on one of the lines of characters of the base-board,and consequently when one of the squares is cutout, leaving an opening in the scale-chart, a single character only may be seen through the opening' so formed in any position. In the construction of the scale-chart the openings, which are designated 23, are arranged at intervals corresponding to the pitch intervals of the diatonic scale, and when the scale-chart is in position above the note-chart the characters visible through the openings 23 are the characters representing the notes of the successive diatonic scales for some particular key. In the row of spaces 19, at the top of the scale' chart, there are arranged over the openings in the scale-chart the Italian names by which the notes of the diatonic scale are commonly known, and in the row 2O of spaces at the bottom of the scale-chart there are arranged two series of numbers, of which the numbers in the upper series indicate the relative positions ofthe notes in the major scale and the numbers in the lower series indicate the relative positions of the notes in the minor scale. Each opening 23, moreover, has marked at the right side thereofa sharp and a natural and at the left side thereof a flat and a natural to indicate the direction of movement of the scale-chart by which the character representing the sharp or fiat of a note may be brought to View.

In order to bring into view through the openings 23 in the scale-chart the characters representing the notes of the scales in any desired key, the scale-chart will be moved longi- IOO tudinally over the note-chart until the word key upon the scale-chart is brought under the desired signature in the signature-chart. Thus to bring' to view the notes in the key of C the scale-chart will be moved until the word key is just below the word natural.

in the soprano-section of the signature-chart, and the characters visible through the openings in the signature-chart will then be/those shown in Fig. 2, which will be recognized as those of the key of 0. If it is desired to set the scale-chart to show the notes in thekey whose signature is seven sharps,the scale-.chart will be moved just one space to the right, so that the word key will then lie under the signature seven sharps in the soprano-section of the signature-chart. Similarly in order to bring to View the notes of the scales in any key the scale-chart will be moved over the note-chart until the word key on the scalechart lies directly under the signature of the key desired.

In order that the scale-chart may have sufiicient range of movement both to the right and left and its proper position over the notechart be undisturbed by contact of the ends of the chart with the frame of the piano or organ, it is desirable to form the scale-chart in a main section 25 and end sections 26, attached to the main section by means of hinges oi' any suitable character at 27.

In order to show what notes harmonize to form chords and also to show the position of the notes which form the chords, both major and minor, of the various keys, slides 30 and 31, consisting of strips of cardboard or other suitable material, are provided, and on these slides are indicated the names and relative positions of the notes forming the principal chords in the major and minor scales, respectively. These slides 30 and 31 areof such width that they may be inserted under guidehooks 3Q on the upper portion of the baseboard of the chart above the signature-chart and shifted in position upon the base-board to indicate the position of the chords in dierent keys. rIhe slide 30, upon which the principal chords of the major scale are illustrated, is divided into three longitudinally-eXtending divisions 33, 34, and 35, respectively, and in each oi' these divisions the names of the notes forming one of the principal chords of the major scale are indicated at intervals corresponding to the pitch intervals between the notes. In order to show the position of the notes forming the chords in any particular key, the slides 30 or 31, as the case may be, must be moved on the base-board until the word key on the slide is above the signature of the desired key in the base-section of the signature-chart. When the slide occupies its position, the location of the notes oi' the several chords will be clearly indicated by the slide upon which the names are shown, as

may be seen from the drawings. In the slides 3() and 31,as illustrated, the notes forming the chord are indicated by the note-namesupon the backgrounds, which are differently shaded to indicate different colors. Thus on slide 3() the names of the notes in row 33 appear on a red background, those in row 34 upon a yellow background, and those in row 35 upon a blue background. Similarly in slide 31 the notes in the lower row 36 appear on a red background, those in the middle row 37 upon a yellow background, and those in the upper row 38 upon a. blue background.

The slides 30 and 3-1, as illustrated, are of the form which will be used by students of music after they have gained some knowledge of the subject and proiiciency in the usc of the instrument; but with inexperienced students it is desirable to use shorterslides than those illustrated in order to do away with a portion of the notes shown thereon to avoid the possibility of confusion, and to this end the slides used by inexperienced students should consist only of the portion to the left of the transverse dividing-lines 39 and et() on slides 30 and 3l, respectively.

The chart as described in the foregoing paragraphs is designed for the use of students` of music who for any reason are unable to secure the services of a competent teacher, and the fundamental object or' the invention is to provide a chart of such character that a student of average intelligence may through its use, supplemented by a book of instructions which will be 'furnished with the chart, be enabled to acquire quickly and with comparatively little difculty a practical knowledge of the art of playing the pianoforte or organ. It is of course to be understood that much practice will be necessary to acquire skill in playing and that the technique of playing must be learned from a book of instructions and not from the chart, which is intended merely to keep cleary before the eye of the student the various note and key relations in music, together with the positions on the keyboard of the instrument of the keys by which the-different notes are produced.

Having thus described the construction and use of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination in a music-chart, of a base-board having note-designating characters arranged thereon in two parallel rows, and a slide arranged for reciprocatory movement over said rows or' characters and provided With a plurality of openings spaced at intervals corresponding to the pitch intervals of the diatonic scale, said openings and said characters being arranged to expose in one line of characters on the base-board the notes indicated in musical notation upon the lines of the staff and to expose in the other row of characters on the base-board the note indicated in the spaces of the stai?.

2. The combination in a music-chart, oi' a IOO IOS

IIO

IIS

base-board having note-designating characters arranged thereon in two parallel rows, each of said rows being divided into a plurality of sections having backgrounds of dierent colors to show whether the notes indicated thereon are to be found in the staves or eX- ternal thereto, and a slide arranged for reciprocatory movement over said rows of notedesignating characters, said slide being provided with a plurality of openings spaced at intervals corresponding to the pitch intervals of the diatonic scale.

3. The combination in a music-chart, of a base-board having thereon a series of notedesignating characters arranged in two parallel rows, and a slide arranged for reciprocatory movement over said characters and having a plurality of openings spaced at intervals corresponding to the pitch intervals of the diatonic scale, said openings and said characters being arranged to show in one row of characters the characters corresponding to the spaces in musical notation and in the other row the characters corresponding to the lines in musical notation. and having a series of numbers arranged adjacent to the openings in the slide to indicate the relative positions of the notes in the major and minor scales.

4. The combination in a music-chart, of a base-board, a signature-chart fixed upon said base-board substantially in median line thereof, a note-chart fixed on the base-board at one side of the signature-chart, a scale-chart arranged for reciprocation adjacent to the signature-chart and having means for indicating the notes of the diatonic scale in the notechart, and a chord-chart arranged for reciprocation upon the side of the signature-chart opposite the note-chart.

5. The combination in a music-chart, of a base-board, a signature-chart fixed on said base-board substantially in median line thereon, a note-chart fixed on the base-board at one side of the signature-chart, a scale-chart having openings therein at suitable intervals arranged for reciprocation above said notechart, and a chord-chart arranged for reciprocation at the other side of the signaturechart.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto atxed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HERSCHEL L. BRANSON.

Witnesses:

vHENRY FAnssLER, G. A. BRANsoN.

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